This invention relates generally to material handling equipment and relates, more particularly, to equipment used to lift and maneuver a spool of material, such as wire or cable, which is wound about the spool.
Heretofore and at a construction job site, a relatively large piece of equipment, such as a crane or a forklift, has been commonly required for lifting or maneuvering a large spool of coiled wire or cable between two locations. However, such a relatively large piece of equipment is typically too large to maneuver such a spool through a relatively confined area, such as a hallway or room of a building. Consequently and in order to maneuver one of these spools of wound material through such a small area (and thereby position the spool as close to the installation location as is possible), manual manipulation of the spool through such an area is commonly required. Of course, such a manual task is laborious, time-consuming and may pose a risk of injury to the individuals required to manually manipulate the spool.
It would be desirable to provide a relatively compact device which is capable of lifting a spool of material wound thereabout from the floor and which facilitates the movement of the spool through a relatively confined area.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device for handling a spool of material, such as wire or cable, wound about the spool.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is capable of lifting the spool to an elevated condition above the underlying floor.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a device which facilitates the movement of the spool through a relatively confined space, once the spool is lifted from the floor.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a device which employs a screw jack for lifting the spool from the floor.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is capable of rotating the spool about its axis, once the spool is lifted from the floor, to facilitate the unwinding of material from the spool or the winding of material about the spool.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is capable of handling a spool within a large range of spool sizes.
One more object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is uncomplicated in structure, yet effective in operation, which resists tipping over and has a relatively high load-carrying capacity.